The New Jersey Devils will look to snap a two-game losing streak with a tilt in St. Louis on Tuesday night.
- New Jersey Devils (22-10-6)
- St. Louis Blues (24-15-2)
- NHL, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018, 8 p.m. ET, MSG+2
- Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri
The New Jersey Devils had one of their worst performances of the season on Friday night in a 5-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. The Capitals fourth goal of the game came when the Caps has too many men on the ice but the officials totally missed the call. Nonetheless, the Devils were not very good on Friday but they always struggle when they play Washington.
The opponent does not get much easier Tuesday night when they go into St. Louis to play against the Blues. The Blues currently have 50 points and that puts them in third in the Central division, just two points out of first place. Their points leader is Brayden Schenn with 41 which is a little bit surprising because the most points he’s ever had in a season was 59. He is now a point-per-game player. The Blues are also led by superstar forward Vladamir Tarasenko, who has 16 goals and 22 assists in 41 games. Outside of these two players, the Blues are very deep and can present problems for a below-average Devils blueline.
The last time the teams met the Blues got the best of New Jersey defeating them by a score of 3-1 at the Rock.
Since the Devils last game the Devils traded Dalton Prout, who cleared waivers on Saturday, to Calgary for Goaltender Eddie Lack. Lack will play for Binghamton, and Kieth Kinkaid’s job is not in jeopardy.
Active/Inactive
The Devils will be shaking up the lineup tonight. Kieth Kinkaid will be getting his first start in nine games, giving Cory Schneider the night off.
#NJDevils making some lineup changes vs St Louis:
Hall-Hischier-Bratt
Johansson-Zajac-Palmieri
Wood-Zacha-Noesen
Coleman-Boyle-GibbonsGreene-Santini
Moore-Vatanen
Butcher-Lovejoy*Kinkaid starts
— Amanda Stein (@amandacstein) January 2, 2018
Another big change the Devils made to tonight’s roster was scratching Damon Severson for Ben Lovejoy. It sounds like Severson is just getting the night off, allowing Lovejoy to play in his 100th game for New Jersey.
Lou Korac, a Blues beat writer for NHL.com, posted this article about the Blues lineup for tonight’s game:
(1-2-18) Devils-Blues Gameday Lineup — Hutton gets another start; Bouwmeester fine to play, Dunn will be a healthy scratch: https://t.co/NS0iL6I8nt
— Lou Korac (@lkorac10) January 2, 2018
Vladimir Sobotka-Paul Stastny-Tage Thompson
Scottie Upshall-Brayden Schenn-Vladimir Tarasenko
Patrik Berglund-Kyle Brodziak-Alexander Steen
Dmitrij Jaskin-Ivan Barbashev-Magnus Paajarvi
Jay Bouwmeester-Alex Pietrangelo
Joel Edmundson-Colton Parayko
Carl Gunnarsson-Robert Bortuzzo
Carter Hutton will start in goal; Jake Allen will be the backup.
After Tuesday night’s game, the Devils will travel to Dallas to take on the Dallas Stars.
The Devils are 6-2-2 in their last ten while the Blues are a lowly 3-7. The Devils need to figure out a way to take advantage of a struggling team tonight.
Other Devils News, Stories:
- Take a look at this video from Northjersey.com’s Andrew Gross of John Hynes talking about tonight’s lineup.
- We are nearing the 41 game mark of the season. Check out my preview from the beginning of the season and compare what I’ve said to how it has played out for Elite Sports NY.
- The World Junior Championships are into the knock out stage. Check out ESNY’s preview for all three local teams from Neal Purcell. I will also have a recap upon completion of the tournament for Elite Sports NY.
